Our practice does offer second opinion consult appointmentsto review your pets medical records, diagnostic tests and radiographs as well as conduct a physical evaluation in order to provide you with our medical opinion. If we feel your pet's problem exceeds our level of surgical care or professional competence we will advise you of options with Board Certified Veterinary Surgeons in the Triangle Area.

For second opinion consults we will provide you with a fee quote estimate range for our recommended procedure at the time of your consult. There is a fee associated with this visit and opinion to cover our staff and professional time - however if you chose to have the procedure performed with our practice after the consultation has been provided, the fee for the consult appointment will be credited towards your surgical bill. At patient discharge your surgical invoice would be reduced by the previous examination or consultation fee charged for the consult appointment.

Listed below are some of the more specialized surgical procedures provided by Carolina Animal Hospital of Creedmoor:

The Care Plan and fee estimates for several of these surgeries are linked on our website.

In our practice, we list our preventative medical care and elective surgery procedure fees AND we put the details of what's going on "behind the curtain" down in writing out front. What you see is what your pet receives at our practice - No games, no gimmicks, no bait-and-switch sold to you as "high quality at an affordable price".

Examination:

All anesthetic and surgery patients receive a physical examination to evaluate them prior to their procedure. We assess their vital signs such as body temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate, as well as many other factors which can influence our decisions on which types of pain relief, sedation and anesthetics we choose - or, in some instances, whether to postpone the procedure.

Pre-Anesthetic Blood Testing:

Prior to the use of anesthetics, your pet will have a blood sample drawn and processed by our in-house laboratory equipment. Because many anesthetic agents are metabolized and eliminated via the internal organs it is important to asses any changes from normal function which can affect how patients respond to anesthetics. These tests can alert us to organ disease, such as kidney or liver abnormalities, which are not always obvious as part of our pre-surgical physical exam. When abnormal test values are found, we may either modify our anesthetic protocols, by changing anesthetic drug choices, doses or fluid therapy, to address underlying issues or we may postpone procedures until we are better able to understand the root cause of the problem.

Intravenous Catheter and Fluid Support:

As part of our standard anesthetic protocol, an intravenous catheter (IV) will be placed in a vein in your pet's leg. This catheter allows us to maintain a route of instant access to your pet's cardiovascular system for delivery of important drugs in the event an unexpected problem develops during anesthesia. In addition, your pet will receive IV fluids delivered through this catheter during and after surgery. The administration of IV fluids assists in maintaining stable blood pressure and proper blood flow to their internal organs.

Pain Management Protocol:

We are also serious about pain control in our patients. Our most basic surgical procedures call for the use of two forms of pain management drugs. We administer an injectable narcotic medication prior to actual anesthesia. This 'pre-med' serves two important purposes; it creates a 'warm and fuzzy' sedation which allows us to use significant less injectable anesthetic drugs to produce the desired anesthetic effect, and it helps to preempt pain responses before they even begin - which means less discomfort should be produced overall. The narcotic injection lasts for approximately six to eight hours. We also administer a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug which helps address mild to moderate discomfort, similar to high dose over the counter pain medications for humans. This drug begins to take effect shortly after administration and generally hits peak effective levels before the narcotic injection wears off. Almost all of our surgical and anesthetic patients receive additional pain relief medications for several days after the procedure

Please schedule a Surgical Appointment with our office.

Please do not give your pet any food to eat after 10 pm the evening prior to the procedure - this includes withholding a meal on the morning of the procedure.

Drop off time for surgery patients is 7:30 - 8:00 am.

Many of our additional surgical procedure patients go home the afternoon of their procedure. Some patients stay overnight for further assessment and treatment, such as bandage changes, the following morning. A few surgical procedure patients will stay for several days for us to monitor their progress post surgery.

Patients with significant post operative conditions or questions regarding their overall stability will be referred to 24 hour care at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital for further monitoring and care - the costs of those services are additional and payable by the pet owner.